A project using on-campus electronic mail (e-mail) to teach communicative writing in English as a Second Language to Japanese junior college students is described. The project had three stages: (1) planning; (2) piloting with a small group of students; and (3) implementation in three large classes (n=55, 28, 36). The aim was to help students write more communicatively and with less anxiety. Planning involved gaining student access to the campus e-mail system, first on a small scale and later with access to more computer services. The pilot involved nine second-year students in a graduation project. Students needed to be familiarized with two-way message exchanges. However, after exchanges began, student-teacher interactions became more interesting. Learning word processing and spell-checking in English and document transfer were initially a challenge. Implementation with three larger classes, in which most students were familiar with e-mail, began with a paired self-introduction writing activity. Partners questioned each other, commented on introductions, and made grammatical corrections, helping each other refine the final product. Teacher feedback was provided weekly. It was found that the method facilitated timely and comfortable communication. The experiments provided insights into advantages, difficulties, and effective procedures for computer-based communication. (MSE)